The 2020 Annual Key West Community Observance of the United Nations International Day for the Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade Key West, Florida March 25 Prayer to Tunkasilah To Begin... Offered by Raining Deer In observance of the International Day for Remembrance of the Victims Giving Thanks, of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, 2020 © Before All Else O Great Spirit, We are grateful to you for the many blessings That you have bestowed upon us. We feel your heart through the beat of the drum. We sway in concert to the rhythm of the blood flow Through our veins, connecting us to life. Our human family recognizes that it is only By your grace and benevolence that we may Gather – albeit in spirit, to remember those whose lives were lost As they made their way to the shores of Turtle Island. Although forcibly, restrained, mostly chained and suppressed, we honor the spirit of the people who were taken from their native lands. They were courageous and persevered with unimaginable atrocities committed against them. Yet, they were not broken but triumphant even in death, as some refused to give their new born babies to slavery, gifting them to the deep, some sacrificing their own lives to the wide Atlantic, the Sargasso and Caribbean seas. We pray that they were welcomed in a good way by sister and brother spirits Of the ocean, that father tortoise allowed them to ride on his back to a Final resting place. Great Creator, in these uncertain times, as we reflect on the past, we ask that in this day you give us the healing we need from the ravages of the plague that is moving around the Earth Mother. Give us the humility to know that if we are unkind to the land and one another, Our own self-destruction will be brought upon us. May we continue to seek guidance from you Great Mystery, And remember that those who have gone before us from our human family as well as brother buffalo, mother deer, all the four leg creatures, the winged ones on the earth and in the sky, and even the small and microscopic beings and those of the plant world, left a sacred path for us to follow. It is a path of respect and honor, gratitude and beauty. We send up this prayer to the Great Spirit on eagles’ wings. Aho - Mitakuye Oyasin. (Thank you, All My Relations) 2 The Dos Amigos/Fair Rosamond Middle Passage Ship Replica Project The Florida Black Historical Research Project, Inc. Cornish Memorial A.M.E. Zion Church Mel Fisher Maritime Museum, and Key West Carnival Corp. present; The 2020 Annual Key West Community Observance of the United Nations International Day for the Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade An E-book Summary of Presentations Contents Introduction 4 The International Day 6 A Time of Remembrances 7 The Key West African Cemetery 8 Program 11 Sandy Cornish Memorial Trail 12 Cornish Memorial AME Zion Church 25 Mel Fisher Maritime Museum 16 The Dos Amigos/Fair Roaamond Project 17 On March 25 in History 19 3 INTRODUCTION: 2020 Hindsight • Foresight • Insight FROM KEY WEST, FLORIDA, U.S.A. he two International Days of Remembrance related to Middle Passage (Transatlantic “slave trade”) history and heritage declared by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly and the Untied Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), on March 25, and August 23 Trespectively, each have a growing tradition of more than a decade of being observed annually in Key West, Florida, the southernmost city in the continental United States, with its strong, numerous, and often heroic connections to the suppression and commemoration of the dominant human trafficking routes that were a scourge of the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico for more than four centuries. In recent decades, the small island city of Key West, mostly known for its laid-back, free-spirited, come-as- you-are welcoming atmosphere and tourist attractions, has also emerged as a significant epicenter of Middle Passage interest, education, and remembrance with its notable landmarks, programs, and repositories of research and artifacts, making it an increasingly significant Cultural Heritage Tourism destination as well. This year, however, as the coronavirus pandemic has made it impossible to continue that tradition with a public gathering as we had planned, to be in solidarity with the spirit of the observance and with others around the world this remembrance (in spite of the UN itself being necessarily closed), we have opted to share the various presentations which would have been made here in Key West, at the African Cemetery and at Cornish memorial A.M.E. Zion Church, via this e-book format. In the of the wise Native American proverb, ”The center of the universe is everywhere,” we would be interested in learning about other remembrances from other epicenters of knowledge in the world, and in building a strong and lasting communications network, undefeated by the virus. Please share this e-book with your lists as we give new meaning to “Reply to All.” We Give Thanks for your presence on the planet. May we all be strengthened by it. Mel Fisher Maritime Museum Exhibits and Slave Trade Research and Education Center Cornish Memorial AME Zion Church and Sandy Cornish Memorial Trail Key West Bahamas Village Key West African Cemetery 4 Scheduled Programs for the 2020 Key West Community Observance The Dos Amigos/Fair Rosamond Middle Passage Ship Replica Project The Dos Amigos/Fair Rosamond Middle Passage Ship Replica Project The Florida Black Historical Research Project, Inc. The Florida Black Historical Research Project, Inc. Cornish Memorial A.M.E. Zion Church Cornish Memorial A.M.E. Zion Church Mel Fisher Maritime Museum, and Mel Fisher Maritime Museum, and Key West Carnival Corp. Key West Carnival Corp. present; present; A WEEKEND OF REMEMBRANCE A WEEKEND OF REMEMBRANCE In Observance of the United Nations International Day In Observance of the United Nations International Day for the Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the for the Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade Transatlantic Slave Trade March 21-22, 2020 March 21-22, 2020 KEY WEST, FLORIDA, U.S.A. KEY WEST, FLORIDA, U.S.A. Saturday, March 21, 2:00 - 5:00 p.m. Sunday, March 22, 4:00-6:00 p.m. CORNISH MEMORIAL A.M.E. ZION CHURCH HALL KEY WEST AFRICAN CEMETERY 702 Whitehead Street, Key West, Florida 33040 1094 Atlantic Boulevard, at Higgs Beach (just west of the White Street Pier, adjacent to the West Martello Tower brick fort) H Special Remembrance of the Remarkable Life of Formerly Enslaved Key West History Maker SPIRITUAL REMEMBRANCE Mr. Sandy Cornish Honoring the Memory of the 297 African Refugees rescued from three captured American and slave ships in 1860 who died in Key West,and all those who perished in the Middle Passage, as well as those who survived to give life to new generations. H Economics, Evidence, Healing, Followed by Open Mic ‘Village Talk’ and Spoken Word and Prevention of ‘Slave Trading,’ Live Performances by Toko Irie, the Newton Street Band, and African World Cultural and Culinary Experience. Then and Now Admission is Free and Open to the Public Film Showing, Panel Presentation, and Fellowship featuring For Further Information, Call 305-904-7620 • 305-834-2143 • 305-304-1136 Special Guest Distinguished Economist Dr. Ralph Henry Special Thanks to of the University of the West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago, Blue Heaven Menus • Destination Catering and Events • Dion’s Quick Chick Marine Archaeologist Dr. Corey Malcom, Fausto’s Food Palace • Grand Vin Classic Wine Bar and Shop La Crêperie French Café • Margaritaville Resort & Marina • VIV Wine Bistro and Middle Passage artist/historian Dinizulu Gene Tinnie Admission to Both events is Free and Open to the Public For Further Information, Call 305-904-7620 • 305-834-2143 • 305-304-1136 Events originally Planned for Key West, where International Days are observed on the nearest weekend Tentatively Rescheduled to August 22-23, 2020 These programs have been tentatively rescheduled to August 22-23, in observance of the International Day of Remembrance of the Slave Trade and Its Abolition, commemorating the anniversary of the start of the successful 1804 Haitian Revolution, to underscore the fact that Africans themselves, more so than political leaders in the British Parliament and U.S. Congress, were the primary agents in bringing about the Abolition of the “trade.” Indeed, it was the shocking defeat of Napoleon’s vaunted best troops by mostly African-born imported forced laborers, wresting from him the single richest colony in the hemisphere, that was a major factor in causing these frightened legislatures to pass laws against any further importation of into their respective dominions. These themes and others will be pursued as we also welcome distinguished economist Dr. Ralph Henry of the University of the West Indies in Trinidad & Tobago, to help “expand the narrative” of previously limited history and the past and present consequences of those developments, on condition, of course of the COVID-19 pandemic having hopefully passed by then. 5 THE INTERNATIONAL DAY OF REMEMBRANCE OF THE VICTIMS OF SLAVERY AND THE TRANSATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE For over 400 years, more than 15 million men, women and children were the victims of the tragic transatlantic slave trade, one of the darkest chapters in human history. Every year on 25 March, the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade offers the opportunity to honour and remember those who suffered and died at the hands of the brutal slavery system.